AS LONG AS THE EARTH ENDURES
The Bible, creation and the environment
Editors Jonathan Moo and Robin Routledge
IVP – Apollos. 256 pages. £19.99
ISBN 978 1 783 590 384
With global climate change and other environmental concerns making headlines there is a need for Christians to think through their responsibilities in the light of biblical revelation.
This book contributes to that task by bringing together a series of papers first delivered at the Tyndale Fellowship Triennial Conference July 2012, with the addition of two other papers, one specially commissioned for this volume.
The introduction describes the papers as ‘a variety of biblical, theological and scientific perspectives on creation and the environment in the hope that we may learn to see the world more clearly, to perceive its beauty and its brokenness when and where we ought, and to reflect God’s love and wisdom in how we relate to all he has made’.
As with any compilation, readers will find some contributions of greater interest than others. I was particularly struck with David Baker’s essay on the goodness of creation and its implications for understanding biodiversity, human dominion, food and agriculture, and Robin Routledge’s chapter on the curse of Genesis 3, which explores the impact of human sin on the environment as expressed throughout the Old Testament. Three other papers that stood out for me emphasised eschatological themes in both Old and New Testaments, especially the biblical witness concerning the dismantling of the present creation and its restoration in the new heavens and earth. Inevitably there is some repetition in these chapters, although the authors present slightly different perspectives on the same passages.
Academic not practical
It should be noted that the book is written in the academic style and will not appeal to readers unused to scholarly theological writing. Further, there is not much in the way of practical guidance about how we should respond to specific environmental problems. Indeed, the afterword by I. Howard Marshall recognises the difficulties that arise in setting priorities and developing solutions, especially when Christians are likely to arrive at mutually contradictory ethical positions.
Neo-Darwinism
My main reservation about the book, however, is the contributors’ unquestioning acceptance of both neo-Darwinism and a great age for the earth. R. J. Berry’s chapter is entirely devoted to the tendentious argument that disputing evolution discourages creation care while Alister McGrath seeks to reassure us that ‘there is a well-credentialised way of thinking about creation that can fit in the ‘big bang’ and biological evolution without showing any strain’ (p.43). Yet these blandishments run counter to biblical and theological inferences drawn elsewhere in the book that are difficult to reconcile with standard reconstructions of earth history, such as the causal connection between mankind’s fall into sin and the origin of ‘natural evils’ including death and predation. In my view this sadly limits the book’s usefulness.
